News Story

Class of 2009 Inducted into US Youth Soccer Hall of Fame

FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 26, 2010) – The 2009 class of the US Youth Soccer Hall of Fame was announced tonight at the US Youth Soccer Awards Gala, held in conjunction with the 2010 US Youth Soccer adidas Workshop at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Two founding members, Karl Grosch and Jimmie Wofford, along with one administrator, Mavis Derflinger, and one former US Youth Soccer player, Julie Foudy, were honored.

The Hall of Fame was established in 2007 with founder and first chairman of US Youth Soccer, Donald Greer, as the charter member.

Karl Grosch (Federal Way, Wash.) Founder
Karl Grosch wrote the initial US Youth Soccer constitution, bylaws and rules and regulation in 1974 with fellow Hall of Fame member Don Greer and Robert Nessler. Their actions led to US Youth Soccer uniting all youth soccer programs throughout the United States. Grosch, Greer and Nessler spent three days mapping out US Youth Soccer's organization. Although it was revolutionary at the time, their goal was to provide a democratic structure to provide uniform rules and guidelines to facilitate intrastate, interstate and international play. In 1974 at the U.S. Soccer Federation annual general meeting in New York City, the 58th Annual USSF Council officially formed and recognized US Youth Soccer as an affiliated, self-governing body for youth soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer had 100,000 players at the time. Click here to read the full biography.

Jimmie Wofford (Richardson, Texas) Founder
Jimmie Wofford discovered soccer when a local professional team visited her children's school. That encounter lead to Wofford's involvement in US Youth Soccer where she helped create the bylaws and she served as the first US Youth Soccer Region III director from 1974-1979. Wofford opened doors for girls' soccer and was instrumental in creating a female interstate tournament for Region III. In 1976, Wofford became the first women's commissioner for U.S. Soccer. She was also the first executive director of North Texas State Soccer Association and also served as secretary. Within her community, she assisted in writing the bylaws of the Richardson (Texas) Soccer Association. Click here to read the full biography.

Mavis Derflinger (Alexandria, Va.) Administrator
Mavis Derflinger began her soccer career coaching a girls' team in Lee-Mount Vernon, Va., in 1969. In the 1970s, Derflinger teamed with Rael Vodicka to form the Washington Area Girls Soccer League (WAGS) where she served as treasurer. Derflinger was elected the president of the Virginia Youth Soccer Association from 1979-1981. She also held the position of Region I director for US Youth Soccer from 1981-1986. In the early 1980s, she became the first female board member of the USSF. In 1986, she was elected as chairwoman of US Youth Soccer, which put her on the USSF Executive Committee. She served as chairwoman through 1990. Click here to read the full biography.

Julie Foudy (Chicago, Ill.) Player
Julie Foudy began playing team soccer when she was seven years old. She helped the Mission Viejo Soccerettes from California Youth Soccer Association South win the Under-16 Girls US Youth Soccer National Championship in 1986. She was the captain of the U.S. Women's National Team for 13 of her 18 years on the team. Foudy is also a two-time FIFA World Cup champion (1991 and 1999) and participated in two other World Cups. She finished her National Team career with 45 goals, 59 assists and 271 international appearances (caps). Foudy was a part of the Olympic gold medalist teams in 1996 and 2004 and the silver medalist team in 2000. Click here to read the full biography.

For more information about the US Youth Soccer Awards Gala and award winners, go to /workshop/galaawards.

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About the United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer) – US Youth Soccer - "The Game for ALL Kids!®" is the largest youth sports organization in the country and largest member of the United States Soccer Federation, the governing body of soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer registers more than 3 million players annually, ages 5 to 19, and over 900,000 administrators, coaches and volunteers in 55 member State Associations. US Youth Soccer programs provide a fun, safe and healthy environment for players at every level of the game. For more information, visit www.USYouthSoccer.org.

Media Request: When referring to the United States Youth Soccer Association, the largest youth sports organization in the United States, please refer to the association only as US Youth Soccer, and never as USYS or USYSA. We appreciate your cooperation.

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